New Elementray School May Go Up West Of Boca

A 15-acre parcel of land west of Boca Raton could be the home of a new elementary school by the winter of the 1990-91 school year if the Palm Beach County School Board approves its purchase.

The school district and the Diocese of Palm Beach County have agreed on a price of $1.1 million for the land, which lies on the south side of Southwest Eighth Avenue between Southwest 57th Street and Boca Rio Road.

The new school, temporarily named Elementary School W, could help relieve crowding, Schools Superintendent Thomas Mills said.

The purchase price works out to little more than $70,000 an acre, said William Hukill, the school district`s assistant superintendent for growth management. A new high-school site on Lyons Road sold for about that much, he said.

The district bought the high-school site for its appraised value, he said. The price for the elementary school was slightly below its appraised value, he said.

Two independent appraisers valued the property at $45,000 and $580,000 more than the purchase rice.

``Obviously, we try to buy all the properties at the lowest price possible,`` Hukill said. ``The diocese is a responsible citizen. They cooperated with the School Board the whole way.``

Dan Lewis, who is handling the sale for the diocese, declined to comment because the sale will not be final until the School Board approves the agreement.

The Board will consider the purchase at its meeting on Wednesday.

Hukill said he is almost certain the sale will go through.

Construction on the school will start as soon as the district gets the zoning changed, he said.

``I won`t even take a guess at that,`` he said. ``They`ve held us up before. If I said something it would probably be wrong.``

Even so, Hukill said, the school should open in about a year and a half even if it means moving children in the middle of a school year.